Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Students, family attend memorial service for ND students
DICKINSON, N.D. - Students, family members and friends packed a Dickinson State University memorial service Thursday for a young Manitoba woman and her two college friends found dead in their sunken vehicle in a pond.
The three played softball for the North Dakota university and the jerseys of 21-year-old Ashley Neufeld, of Brandon, 22-year-old Kyrstin Gemar, and 20-year-old Afton Williamson were framed and presented to their families during the service. Campus officials said their softball numbers will be retired.
Bev Neufeld, Ashley's mother, told the mourners that the team would now have an angel in the outfield.
Many in the crowd wore T-shirts made special in memory of the women.
The campus of about 2,700 students went into shock after the womens' bodies were found Tuesday northwest of Dickinson.
Neufeld, Gemar, and Williamson, both from California were found inside a Jeep Cherokee at the bottom of a three-metre deep pond on a farm.
Authorities believe they were on a stargazing trip when their sport utility vehicle went into the pond in the darkness.
Families and students rallied to help each other.
"This place is really a family. Everyone's just been great," Megan Farmer, Williamson's roommate, said Thursday.
"I had to help her mom move her stuff out last night," Farmer said. "And it was just horrible. But people have been there for the families and I think they really appreciate that."
Student Ray McKoy remembered laughing with Kyrstin Gemar and said it was hard to believe he had just seen her recently.
"Last week, like Friday we were laughing because she almost hit me with a softball when she was practising," he said.
Officials estimated about 1,000 people attended Thursday's service.
"As we move forward," Dickinson State President Richard McCallum said, "we will never forget."
The funerals have yet to take place, pending results from the autopsies.
